Allegorithmic’s Meet MAT Contest Breaks Records

The results are in, and with hundreds of entries from professionals and amateurs around the world, Allegorithmic’s “Meet MAT” competition has become the Substance software maker’s most popular contest to date – by a huge margin.

The contest received over 1,200 entries (with nearly 400 of those coming from students), saw close to 4,500 MAT Model downloads on Substance Share and 19,000 material downloads from Substance Source and received over 53,000 views on the Allegorithmic website, more than triple the previous high. The competition was such a success that Allegorithmic was forced to rethink its rules and recognize more winners.

“Meet MAT” challenged experienced Substance users and those new to the tools to come up with their best and most creative take on Allegorithmic’s toy mascot, MAT. Entries ranged in theme from sci-fi to horror to sports to recreations of famous painters and everything in between, with winners awarded thousands of dollars in prizes.

Using Substance Painter’s texturing tools and a selection of free materials from Allegorithmic’s Substance Source material library, 30 winners from 16 different nationalities were selected by a jury of industry experts from the game, VFX, industrial design and architecture industries.

“This was an opportunity to challenge Substance users new and old to display their creativity and passion in a fun way,” said Allegorithmic founder and CEO Sébastien Deguy. “We were expecting some impressive entries, but we were still blown away by the incredible response we received.”

The top three winners received prize packages that include an art toy from Artoyz’s special collection, NVIDIA hardware and a Wacom tablet. New Substance Painter users also automatically received three months of Sketchfab PRO. Thirty participants in total received bonus prizes to thank them for their amazing, creative entries.

“I was amazed by the consistent quality and diversity of the entries, many of which took advantage of the wide range of Substance’s material possibilities in clever ways,” said 3D Character Artist and “Meet MAT” contest judge Blair Armitage. “The student category was particularly impressive, with some MATs definitely reaching a professional level.”

Although the contest has concluded, Substance Painter and Substance Designer are both available for a free 30-day trial. Substance Source is available as part of Allegorithmic’s monthly plan.